Phuket City Police confirmed that the Russian, identified by police only as ‘Mr Georgii’, was detained at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday (Sept 25) while attempting to fly to Vietnam. He was brought back to Phuket late last night for questioning.
The Thai woman, a 42-year-old Rawai resident named by police only as ‘Ms B’, was also taken into custody for questioning last night.
The charges stem from a video clip posted online showing a foreign man and a Thai woman naked and engaging in a sex act in the open bed of a black pickup truck as it travelled along the bypass road on Wednesday night (Sept 24).
The clip quickly spread across Thai social media, prompting a coordinated investigation by Phuket City Police, Tourist Police and Phuket Immigration.
At 11:45pm last night, Phuket City Police Chief Pol Col Chatree Chukaew, along with senior officers from the Tourist Police and Immigration Bureau, formally received Mr Georgii at Phuket City Police Station.
Investigators charged him with public indecency, publishing obscene material online and violating the Computer Crimes Act. Ms B was charged with public indecency.
Pol Col Chatree said police will recommend that Immigration revoke the Russian’s visa and deport him once legal proceedings are complete. Immigration has already approved the visa cancellation and will hold Mr Georgii in detention until the case is finalised. Blacklisting from re-entry to Thailand is also under consideration.
During questioning, Mr Georgii admitted to being the man in the video but denied having intercourse, claiming he was wearing underwear.
Ms B confessed to taking part and told police she was paid B1,000 to join the filming. She said the Russian man, who has thousands of Instagram followers, offered money to create explicit content and had done similar stunts before.
Phuket City Police Chief Pol Col Chatree told The Phuket News that police are still investigating the driver of the pickup and the person who filmed the incident, but no charges have yet been filed against them.
Phuket City Police have filed Ms B’s case with the Phuket Provincial Court and expect to bring her before a judge by Saturday.